“We are privileged to have such committed, faithful people willing to serve on our Board,” said the Rt. Rev. Robert J. O’Neill, Bishop of the Diocese of Colorado and Chair of the Board of Episcopal Relief & Development. “We are especially blessed in the diversity of experience and background of these new members. I am very much looking forward to working with these talented individuals as we seek to serve our mission in the world.”

The Rt. Rev. Prince G. Singh is bishop of the Diocese of Rochester. Ordained in India, Bishop Singh co-founded the Dalit Solidarity Foundation while serving in the Diocese of Newark. He holds several post-graduate degrees from seminaries and universities in the US, including a PhD in Religion and Society from Drew University in New Jersey. He is a member of Bishops Working for a Just World and the Standing Commission on Social Justice and Public Policy.

Ms. Constance R. Perry is a recently retired consultant for community organizations and manager of programs for at-risk youth and adults. Ms. Perry and her husband, Dain, have been touring the country screening Traces of the Trade, a documentary about her husband’s family’s role in the slave trade. Ms. Perry has done substantial work to organize grassroots action toward racial reconciliation. She is a member of Trinity Church in Copley Square, Boston.

Ms. Josephine H. Hicks is a partner at the law firm of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP. Ms. Hicks currently serves as a lay representative on the Anglican Consultative Council, and recently finished a term on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church. She also serves on the board of the Evangelical Education Society, and is a member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Charlotte, NC.

Mr. Daniel McNeel “Neel” Lane is a partner with the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. He is a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas, on whose vestry Mr. Lane served a three-year term. He has served on the board of the Diocese of West Texas’s Good Samaritan Community Services, and the board of the Texas Appleseed, an agency that promotes social and economic justice.

These four incoming Board members have been elected to three-year terms, which may be renewed once.

“We are excited to welcome these new members to our Board,” said Rob Radtke, President of Episcopal Relief & Development. “Their unique gifts and insights will help our organization to continue to grow and expand, building upon the good work that has already been done.”

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operating under the General Convention of The Episcopal Church, Episcopal Relief & Development is presently governed by a 19-member Board of Directors that includes clergy and lay leaders from around the country. The Honorary Chair of the Board is the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, and the Chair of the Board is the Rt. Rev. Robert J. O’Neill, Bishop of the Diocese of Colorado. Members of the Board are nominated by the Presiding Bishop and the Chair of the Board of Episcopal Relief & Development, with assistance from the Board’s Governance Committee. New members are then elected by the Board, and this decision is ratified by the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church.

Episcopal Relief & Development is the international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church of the United States and an independent 501(c)(3) organization. The agency takes its mandate from Jesus’ words found in Matthew 25. Its programs work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Together with the worldwide Church and ecumenical partners, Episcopal Relief & Development rebuilds after disasters and empowers people by offering lasting solutions that fight poverty, hunger and disease, including HIV/AIDS and malaria.